Reading
Building confident, fluent and passionate readers from the very beginning
At Danetree Primary School and Nursery, we believe that learning to read is one of the most important things a child will ever do. Reading opens doors to learning, imagination, independence and opportunity. It allows children to discover new worlds, understand different perspectives and develop the language, knowledge and vocabulary they need to flourish.
Our approach to reading is underpinned by a clear understanding of the science of reading. We know that becoming a successful reader requires children to develop secure phonics knowledge, automatic word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, background knowledge and strong comprehension. Our curriculum has therefore been carefully designed so that each stage of a child's reading journey builds upon what has come before.
From learning to read, to reading to learn
In EYFS and Key Stage 1, we use Read Write Inc. (RWI) to give children the strong foundations they need to become accurate and fluent readers.
RWI provides a highly structured approach to phonics, teaching children the relationship between sounds and the letters that represent them. Through systematic progression, repeated practice and carefully matched books, children develop the ability to decode words accurately and increasingly automatically.
This matters because fluent decoding frees up the brain to focus on meaning. As children become more secure and automatic in recognising words, they are increasingly able to concentrate on understanding, interpreting and enjoying what they read.
But phonics is only the beginning.
As children move through Key Stage 1 and into Key Stage 2, our reading curriculum develops alongside them. CUSP Reading provides the next stage of this journey, building on the foundations established through RWI and developing increasingly sophisticated comprehension, vocabulary and knowledge.
CUSP exposes children to a rich and carefully selected range of texts, authors, genres and subject matter. Through these texts, children encounter ambitious vocabulary, develop background knowledge, make connections and learn to think deeply about what they read.
RWI and CUSP: one journey, not two separate systems
The transition from RWI to CUSP is deliberately designed to be seamless.
RWI builds the foundations for reading. CUSP builds upon those foundations.
The accuracy and fluency developed through systematic phonics enable children to access increasingly complex texts. CUSP then provides the rich language, knowledge and comprehension experiences that help children move beyond simply decoding words to becoming thoughtful, critical and enthusiastic readers.
Our approach recognises that reading is both a skill and a source of knowledge. Children need to be able to read the words on the page, but they also need the vocabulary, experiences and knowledge required to understand them.
This is why our reading curriculum places such a strong emphasis on:
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Phonics and decoding – developing secure knowledge of the alphabetic code and the ability to read unfamiliar words.
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Fluency – developing accurate, expressive and increasingly automatic reading.
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Vocabulary – explicitly teaching children the words they need to understand increasingly complex texts.
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Comprehension – teaching children to retrieve, infer, predict, summarise and explain.
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Background knowledge – building the knowledge that enables children to make sense of what they read.
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Discussion and oracy – giving children opportunities to articulate their thinking, explore ideas and respond to texts.
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A love of reading – ensuring that reading is experienced not simply as something children learn to do, but as something they genuinely enjoy.
Reading opens the door to everything
We know that reading success has a profound impact on children's wider education. The ability to read fluently and confidently enables children to access the whole curriculum, while a rich vocabulary and broad knowledge base support their ability to understand and participate in the world around them.
At Danetree, we therefore want every child to leave us as a confident, fluent and motivated reader who chooses to read, talks enthusiastically about books and has the skills and knowledge to engage with increasingly challenging texts.
From the first sounds children learn in EYFS, through the systematic teaching of phonics in RWI, to the rich texts, vocabulary and ideas encountered through CUSP in KS2, every part of our reading curriculum has a purpose and every stage builds upon the last.
Our ambition is simple:
Every child reading fluently. Every child reading widely. Every child discovering the joy and power of books.
Because at Danetree, we don't just teach children to read – we teach them to become readers!
For more information on the CUSP reading curriculum, please click the link.
For more information on phonics, please click the link.
Reading Journey in Early Years Foundation Stage
For information about Phonics and early reading, please click on the following link.
Early Years Foundation Stage
Reading is a high priority within Early Years and underpins everything we do. This includes making sure topics taught are built around a wide selection of books linked to children’s interests.
Over the course of the academic year the Nursery team ensure that children attending the Nursery are provided with exciting reading opportunities and are reading high quality chosen books. These books have been selected to be topical, traditional tales and story-based language, enriched language and patterned language stimulus and to provide the start of a deep cultural capital with acceptance, diversity and equality being taught through stories, rhymes and books. Books will also be shared that assist children with moments of transition and help with emotions or life events.
Reading in Early Years
In Reception, children are taught the technical skills of reading but are also taught how to talk about books through whole class taught sessions and small group work. Reception children have a balance of phonics-based books and ‘real’ books to develop the wide range of reading skills. These ‘real’ books are our Dream Reads. We have selected a set of wonderful books which we feel will give our children an enjoyable and varied reading diet by the time they leave Reception. Our Dream Reads are sent home with the children during the weekly ‘Family Library Time’ to be enjoyed with their adult/s.
EYFS consider books that relate to past and present, people, cultures and communities, natural world and starting school and moving on.Early Years Foundation Stage.
“It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).” EYFS Statutory Framework Education Programme
By the end of their Reception year the children are expected to meet ‘Comprehension’ and ‘Word Reading’ Early Learning Goals (ELGs).
ELG: Comprehension
Children at the expected level of development will:
- Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary;
- Anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories;
- Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play.
ELG: Word Reading
Children at the expected level of development will:
- Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs;
- Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending;
- Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.
Reading In Key Stage 1
Children in Years 1-6 continue to be supported with developing their reading fluency, accuracy and stamina as well as the progression of comprehension skills. This is achieved through both group and whole-class reading sessions.
Wherever possible, our English units are planned around high quality texts to ensure our pupils are immersed in quality literature.
Children receive daily reading sessions in Read Write Inc. or guided reading when the program is finished, which run in small groups, and a daily whole class reading to support their reading skill development in relation to the year group outcomes.
Books in Year One
In Year 1, children continue to be taught the technical skills of reading and develop their talk about books through whole class taught sessions and small group work. Year 1 children have a balance of phonics-based books and ‘real’ books to develop the wide range of reading skills. These ‘real’ books are a carefully selected range of books that support these chosen texts. We have selected a set of wonderful books which we feel will give our children an enjoyable and varied reading diet that will extend and further develop reading knowledge and vocabulary. They will support life changes and new situations that children may experience.
Year 1 National Curriculum objectives
Books in Year Two
In Year 2, children continue to build upon their learning of reading to become more fluent and knowledgeable about texts. This will be taught through whole class sessions and small group guided reading work. Year 2 children have closely matched phonics-based books and a wider selection of ‘real’ books to develop the wide range of reading and language skills. We have carefully selected a set of wonderful books which we feel will give our children an enjoyable and varied reading diet that will extend and further develop reading knowledge and vocabulary. They will support life changes and new situations that children may experience.
Year 2 National Curriculum objectives
Reading in Key Stage 2
Whole Class Teaching
At Danetree Primary School we use DERIC as a whole class approach to teach reading skills from Y2- summer upwards, which equips pupils with the necessary skills to be successful readers. It focuses on building fluency and embedding comprehension skills with direct, taught sessions. DERIC stands for; Decode, Explain, Retrieve, Interpret and Choice. These are all closely linked to the assessed strands in the end of key stage assessments.
DERIC:
D for decode - this is the sounding out and blending of words and then becoming more confident with reading words on sight.
E for explain - asking the children to explain the meaning of words and being able to explain what is happening in the text they have read.
R - for retrieve - asking the children questions where the answer can be found in the text or pictures. For example: How many cups are on the table? What colour is the bear's hat?
I - for interpret - the children are to use their inference skills to use clues in the text and what they already know to make suggestions about what they have read. (Using ‘because’ in their responses). For example: Why do you think the bear was crying?
C - for choice - asking the children questions about why the author has chosen to lay out the text in a particular way.
When teaching, there is one learning objective for the whole class based around the same text. The activities or level of support is adapted for different abilities so that all children can access the learning objective and be challenged. Sometimes, texts are part of a class book or at other times they are a poem or non-fiction article depending on the writing focus. The whole class reading approach supports rapid progress of lower ability readers. Research suggests this is due to exposure to higher-level questions and answers. Pictorial stimulus or activities which are designed to have a comprehension focus but reduce the amount of decoding can also be used to support SEND/EAL pupils.
At Danetree Primary School, we promote the use of a variety of carefully selected literature that is matched to the attainment level of pupils. These texts have subtle challenges and allow pupils to reinforce fluency, decoding and comprehension skills regularly.
Additional opportunities are provided for pupils to practise and extend reading in other subjects.
Intervention
Any child who is at risk of falling behind with their reading will be identified quickly and appropriate support will be put in place.
The following interventions will be considered:
- 1:1 RWI Phonics Tutoring (4 – 9 years)
- 1:1 RWI Fresh Start Phonics (9 years +)
- Inferential comprehension booster sessions
- 1:1 daily reading
- Precision teaching of High Frequency Words (‘tricky words’)
